Wilson Brothers & Company was a prominent Victorian-era architecture and engineering firm based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The company was regarded for its structural expertise.
96-545: The brothers designed or contributed engineering work to hundreds of bridges, railroad stations and industrial buildings, including the principal buildings at the 1876 Centennial Exposition . They also designed churches, hospitals, schools, hotels and private residences. Among their surviving major works are the Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge over the Schuylkill River (1866–67),
192-493: A heat wave during the summer, no mass health crises occurred. Philadelphia passed an ordinance that authorized Mayor William S. Stokley to appoint 500 men as Centennial Guards for the exposition. Among soldiers and local men hired by the city was Frank Geyer , best known for investigating one of America's first serial killers, H. H. Holmes . Centennial Guards policed exhibits, kept the peace, reunited lost children, and received, recorded, and when possible, returned lost items,
288-489: A 3-volume history of the Philadelphia World's Fair . Joseph's commission for Philadelphia's Presbyterian Hospital (1874), may be related to later work on Presbyterian churches, nursing homes, and an orphanage. The firm's extensive work for financer Anthony J. Drexel , the city's wealthiest citizen and a Roman Catholic, may have led to subsequent commissions for convents and Catholic hospitals. In Philadelphia,
384-631: A PRR subsidiary, he designed the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal in Washington, D.C. (1873–77, demolished 1908), the station in which U.S. President James A. Garfield was assassinated in 1881. The National Gallery of Art now occupies its site at 6th Street & Constitution Avenue on the National Mall . John did engineering work for several railroads, including the PRR and
480-479: A Scottish-born physician and planter of Antigua . The earliest surviving printed catalogue of 1741 gives the range of readers' tastes, for the members' requirements shaped the collection. Excluding gifts, a third of the holdings of 375 titles were historical works, geographies and accounts of voyages and travels, a category the Library Company has collected energetically throughout its history. A fifth of
576-544: A brick and marble foundation and was 383 ft (117 m) long, 193 ft (59 m) wide, and 68 ft (21 m) tall. The building was designed in the Moorish style and intended as a tribute to the Crystal Palace of London 's Great Exhibition of 1851. Inside, nurserymen, florists, and landscape architects exhibited a variety of tropical plants, garden equipment, and garden plans. In dramatic fashion,
672-470: A decent library. In colonial Pennsylvania at the time there were not many books; Books from London booksellers were expensive to purchase and slow to arrive. Franklin and his friends were mostly of moderate means, and none alone could have afforded a representative library such as a gentleman of leisure might expect to assemble. By pooling their resources in pragmatic Franklinian fashion, as the Library Company's historian wrote, "the contribution of each created
768-500: A fence nearly three miles long. There were five main buildings in the exposition. They were the Main Exhibition Building, Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall. Apart from these buildings, there were separate buildings for state, federal, foreign, corporate, and public comfort buildings. This strategy of numerous buildings in one exposition set it apart from the previous fairs around
864-594: A glazed cabinet, the earliest extant example of American-made Palladian architectural furniture. Rooms on the second floor of the newly finished west wing of the State House (now Independence Hall ) housed the Library and its collections: there Franklin and his associates performed their first experiments in electricity during the 1740s. Later Benjamin West sent the mummified hand of an Egyptian princess. A charter
960-660: A great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin , as president. In its first few months, the group raised $ 40,000. When the group learned the planning commission was not doing much to display the work of women, it raised an additional $ 30,000 for a women's exhibition building. In 1873, the Centennial Commission named Alfred T. Goshorn as the director general of the Exposition. The Fairmount Park Commission set aside 450 acres (1.8 km ) of West Fairmount Park for
1056-552: A loan. The board initially thought it was a subsidy . But after the exposition ended, the federal government sued to have the money returned, and the United States Supreme Court ultimately forced repayment. John Welsh enlisted help from the women of Philadelphia who had helped him in the Great Sanitary Fair. A Women's Centennial Executive Committee was formed with Elizabeth Duane Gillespie,
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#17327727475651152-472: A pavilion devoted entirely to the artistic and industrial pursuits of their gender. They had to build their own structure because they lost their spot in one of the larger pavilions (the Main Building) due to an unexpected increase in the participation of foreign countries. Their aim was to employ only women in the construction of the pavilion and even to power it, and they succeeded with the exception of
1248-461: A popular means for justifying female autonomy outside of the home by demonstrating to visitors the many ways women were making a profitable living. Exhibits demonstrated positive achievements and women's influence in domains such as industrial and fine arts (wood-carvings, furniture-making, and ceramics), fancy articles (clothing and woven goods), and philanthropy as well as philosophy, science, medicine, education, and literature. Mexico participated in
1344-454: A separate annex was built to house them all. Another structure was built for the display of photography . Memorial Hall was designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, who basically adopted an art museum plan submitted by Nicholas Félix Escalier to the Prix de Rome competition in 1867–69. Memorial Hall became the prototype, both from a stylistic and organizational standpoint, for other museums such as
1440-452: A set of Spenser's Works to the collection and Francis Richardson gave several volumes, among them Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum , but on the whole books in Latin were few. Overtures to the proprietor of Pennsylvania, John Penn at Pennsbury at first elicited no more than a polite response, but an unsolicited gift of 34 pounds sterling arrived in the summer of 1738 from Walter Sydserfe,
1536-714: A tenth of the titles, which set the Free Library apart from collegiate libraries at Harvard and Yale . Another tenth was works of philosophy, and the rest (approximately 1/15 of the collection) was "economics and such social sciences , the arts , linguistics , and the indefinables." The Company's agent in London was Peter Collinson , Fellow of the Royal Society , the Quaker mercer-naturalist of London, who corresponded with John Bartram . The Library Company's example
1632-697: A visit from the U.S. president and his family. The idea of the Centennial Exposition is credited to John L. Campbell, a professor of mathematics, natural philosophy , and astronomy at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana . In December 1866, Campbell suggested to Philadelphia Mayor Morton McMichael that the United States Centennial be celebrated with an exposition in Philadelphia. Naysayers argued that
1728-522: A year thereafter to buy books and maintain a shareholder's library. Therefore, "the Mother of all American subscription libraries " was established, and a list of desired books compiled in part by James Logan , "the best Judge of Books in these parts," was sent to London by autumn the first books were on the shelves. Earlier libraries in the Thirteen Colonies belonged to gentlemen, members of
1824-415: Is also evidence that many of the library's curiosities were available to borrow if permission was obtained from any two directors. In 1769, Owen Biddle used the telescope to observe the transit of Venus from Cape Henlopen . On May 9 of that year Sarah Wistar became the first woman to be voted a library share. The library absorbed smaller lending libraries and outgrew its rooms, renting larger space on
1920-665: Is now the University of the Arts . Used for a time as a police station, the building now houses the Please Touch Museum , which includes a faithful 20x30-foot model of the exposition grounds and 200 buildings. The Women's Pavilion was the first structure at an international exposition to highlight the work of women, with exhibits created and operated by women. Female organizers drew upon deep-rooted traditions of separatism and sorority in planning, fundraising, and managing
2016-1053: The Art Institute of Chicago (1892–1893), the Milwaukee Public Museum (1893–1897), the Brooklyn Museum (1893–1924), and the Detroit Institute of Art (1920–1927). Libraries such as the Library of Congress , the New York Public Library , and the Free Library of Philadelphia also emulated its form. Finally, Memorial Hall was the architectural inspiration for the German capitol, the Reichstag building in Berlin. After
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#17327727475652112-675: The Free Library of Philadelphia , was chartered in 1891 to "be free to all", and opened in March 1894. The Library Company suffered financial troubles during the Great Depression and was forced to sell the Locust Street building and consolidate the collections in the Ridgway Library on South Broad Street . As its fortunes improved after the war, the institution focused on its mission as a scholarly research library. In
2208-405: The Library of Congress until the national capital was established in 1800. Virtually every significant work on political theory, history, law, and statecraft (and much else besides) could be found on the Library Company's shelves, as well as numerous tracts and polemical writings by American as well as European authors. And virtually all of those works that were influential in framing the minds of
2304-549: The Reading Railroad . Wilson Brothers & Company was founded on January 1, 1876. For the 1876 Centennial Exposition , Henry Petit and Joseph M. Wilson co-designed the Main Exhibition Building—the largest building in the world, 1,876 feet (572 m) in length and enclosing 21-1/2 acres. The pair also designed Machinery Hall and oversaw construction of the other principal buildings. Joseph co-authored
2400-554: The beaux-arts style , it was the largest art hall in the country when it opened, with a massive 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) footprint and a 150 ft (46 m) dome atop a 59 ft (18 m)-high structure. The central domed area is surrounded by four pavilions on the corners, with open arcades to the east and west of the main entrance. It provided 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m ) of wall surface for paintings and 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m ) of floor space for sculptures. The exposition received so many art contributions that
2496-559: The Centennial or on trains heading for Philadelphia. Philadelphia streetcars increased service, and the Pennsylvania Railroad ran special trains from Philadelphia's Market Street , New York City , Baltimore , and Pittsburgh . The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad ran special trains from the Center City part of Philadelphia. A small hospital was built on the exposition's grounds by the Centennial's Medical Bureau, but despite
2592-665: The City Council resolved in January 1870 to hold the Centennial Exposition in the city in 1876. The Philadelphia City Council and the Pennsylvania General Assembly created a committee to study the project and seek support of the U.S. Congress . Congressman William D. Kelley spoke for the city and state, and Daniel Johnson Morrell introduced a bill to create a United States Centennial Commission. The bill, which passed on March 3, 1871, provided that
2688-612: The Exposition, six from typhoid fever , one from smallpox , and one from organic disease of the heart. The Centennial National Bank was chartered on January 19, 1876, to be the "financial agent of the board at the Centennial Exhibition, receiving and accounting for daily receipts, changing foreign moneys into current funds, etc.," according to an article three days later in The Philadelphia Inquirer . Its main branch, designed by Frank Furness ,
2784-583: The Exposition, the building continued to be used for horticultural exhibits until it was severely damaged by Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and was subsequently demolished. As a replacement, the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center was built on the site in 1976 as part of the United States Bicentennial exposition. Designed by Joseph M. Wilson and Henry Pettit, Machinery Hall was the second largest structure in
2880-569: The Framers of the nation are still on the Library Company's shelves. In 1785, the Company purchased a collection of Revolutionary broadsheets pamphlets and other ephemera that had been assiduously collected by Pierre Eugène Du Simitière , of which no other copies have survived. Permanent quarters were established for the Library Company in 1789 with the purchase of a lot on Fifth Street near Chestnut across from State House Square. A competition for
2976-495: The Main Exhibition Building dealt with mining , metallurgy , manufacturing , education, and science. Offices for foreign commissioners were placed in proximity to the products exhibited along in the aisles along the sides of the building. The walkways leading to the exit doors were ten feet wide. After the Exposition, the structure was turned into a permanent building for the International Exhibition. During
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3072-689: The Maryland House, which was moved to Druid Hill Park in Baltimore , where it is extant today, and the Missouri House, which was moved to Spring Lake, New Jersey , along with several other exhibition buildings, some of which are still extant in various Jersey Shore towns. The United States government had a cross-shaped building that held exhibits from various government departments. The remaining structures were corporate exhibitions, administration buildings, restaurants, and other buildings designed for public comfort. The formal name of
3168-742: The Soil and Mine , was held in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official world's fair to be held in the United States and coincided with the centennial anniversary of the Declaration of Independence 's adoption in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. It was held in Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River on fairgrounds designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann . Nearly 10 million visitors attended
3264-412: The U.S. government would not be liable for any expenses. The United States Centennial Commission organized on March 3, 1872, with Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut as president. The Centennial Commission's commissioners included one representative from each state and territory in the United States. On June 1, 1872, Congress created a Centennial Board of Finance to help raise money. The board's president
3360-631: The Women's Pavilion was commissioned in 1873 by the United States Centennial Board of Finance with the expectation that it would generate enthusiasm for the celebration of the fair and increase subscriptions to exposition stock. Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, president of the Women's Centennial Committee, led the effort to gather 82,000 signatures in two days to raise money for the pavilion. Gillespie also helped convince Congress to grant additional funding. It took only four months to raise
3456-402: The auction held on December 1, 1876, it was bought for $ 250,000. It quickly ran into financial difficulties but remained open through 1879 and was finally demolished in 1881. The third-largest structure at the exposition was Agricultural Hall. Designed by James H. Windrim , Agricultural Hall was 820 ft (250 m) long and 540 ft (160 m) wide. Made of wood and glass, the building
3552-474: The book capital of all. "Many of the first books in the collection focused Hat the first texts of on religion and education. It is notable t the collection was written in English, when during the period most books held in academic and private libraries were only found in Latin. The first librarian they hired, America's first, was Louis Timothee. He only held the position for a brief time. Until another librarian
3648-533: The book. The privilege of being a member meant that books could be borrowed for free. Franklin also mentioned that the library was only open on Saturdays, for four hours in the afternoon. On November 10, 1731, at Nicholas Scull's Bear Tavern ten persons paid their forty shillings: Robert Grace (share no. 1), Thomas Hopkinson (share no. 2),2 Benjamin Franklin (share no. 3), John Jones, Jr. (4), Joseph Breintnall (5), Anthony Nicholas (6), Thomas Godfrey (7), Joseph Stretch (8), Philip Syng, Jr. (9), and John Sober (10). It
3744-481: The building was east–west in direction, making it well lit, and glass was used between the frames to let in light. Skylights were set over the central aisles of the structure. The corridors of the building were separated by fountains that were attractive and also provided cooling. The structure of the building featured a central avenue with a series of parallel sheds that were 120 ft (37 m) wide, 1,832 ft (558 m) long, and 75 ft (23 m) high. It
3840-423: The building's corners. These towers had small balconies at different heights that served as observation galleries. Within the building, exhibits were arranged in a grid, in a dual arrangement of type and national origin. Exhibits from the United States were placed in the center of the building, and foreign exhibits were arranged around the center, based on the nation's distance from the United States. Exhibits inside
3936-612: The clergy, and colleges. Members of the Library Company soon opened their own book presses to make donations: A Collection of Several Pieces , by John Locke ; Logic: or, the Art of Thinking , by the Port Royalists Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole , which Franklin in his autobiography said he had read at the age of 16; Plutarch 's Moralia translated by Philemon Holland ; Lewis Roberts' Merchants Mappe of Commerce , and others. A bit later William Rawle added
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4032-743: The delegates. The offer was renewed when the Second Continental Congress met the following spring, and again when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in 1787. Nine signers of the Declaration of Independence— Benjamin Franklin , Benjamin Rush , Francis Hopkinson , Robert Morris , George Clymer , John Morton , James Wilson , Thomas McKean , and George Ross —owned shares, some of them serving as directors. The Library Company served virtually as
4128-403: The design by Hermann J. Schwarzmann. Their overarching goal was to advance women's social, economic, and legal standing, abolish restrictions discriminating against their gender, encourage sexual harmony, and gain influence, leverage, and freedom for all women in and outside of the home by increasing women's confidence and ability to choose. A project of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee,
4224-559: The design of a building was won by an amateur of architecture, Dr. William Thornton , with a plan for a Palladian red-brick structure with white pilasters and a pediment interrupting a balustraded roof. A curving double flight of steps led up to the arched door under an arched niche containing a gift from William Bingham —a marble statue of Franklin in a classical toga sculpted in Italy by Francesco Lazzarini. Member's shares were extended to carpenters and bricklayers in partial payment for work on
4320-547: The east, west and south sides, permanently depriving the neighbor of sunlight. The iron-skeletoned addition was built atop Drexel's banking house, and was one of the first examples of X-bracing. One of the buildings demolished for this was Library Hall, the Library Company of Philadelphia 's headquarters, that had been design by William Thornton (1789–91). In an ironic turn of events, the Drexel Building itself
4416-505: The evolved bicycle, with tension spokes and a large front wheel. Two English manufacturers, Bayless Thomas and Rudge, displayed their high-wheel bikes (called "ordinary bikes" or "penny farthings") at the exposition. The bicycle displays inspired Albert Augustus Pope to begin making high-wheel bikes in the United States. He started the Columbia Bike Company and published a journal called " LAW Bulletin and Good Roads", which
4512-627: The exposition and located west of the Main Exhibition Building. With a superstructure made of wood and glass resting on a foundation of massive masonry, it had a main hall painted light blue, 1,402 ft (427 m) long and 360 ft (110 m) wide, with a wing of 208 ft (63 m) by 210 ft (64 m) attached on the south side of the building. The length of the building was 18 times its height. With eight entrances, it occupied 558,440 sq ft (51,881 m ), had 1,900 exhibitors, and took six months to construct. The exhibits focused on machines and evolving industries. Machinery Hall
4608-419: The exposition introduced the general public to the notion of landscape design, as exemplified the building itself and the grounds surrounding it. A long, sunken parterre leading to Horticultural Hall became the exposition's iconic floral feature, reproduced on countless postcards and other memorabilia. This sunken garden enabled visitors on the raised walkways to see the patterns and shapes of the flowerbeds. After
4704-607: The exposition mainly consisted of two types of building, traditional masonry monuments and buildings with a structural framework of iron and steel. The Centennial Commission turned to third-place winner's architect Henry Pettit and engineer Joseph M. Wilson for design and construction of the Main Exhibition Building. A temporary structure, the Main Building was the largest building in the world by area, enclosing 21.5 acres (87,000 m ). It measured 464 ft (141 m) in width and 1,880 ft (570 m) in length. It
4800-462: The exposition the next day. The average daily attendance for May was 36,000 and for June 39,000. A severe heat wave began in mid-June and continued into July, hurting attendance. The average temperature was 81 °F (27 °C), and on ten days during the heat wave the temperature reached 100 °F (38 °C). The average daily attendance for July was 35,000, but it rose in August to 42,000 despite
4896-411: The exposition was the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, but the official theme was the celebration of the United States centennial. This was reinforced by promotional tie-ins, such as the publication of Kate Harrington 's Centennial, and Other Poems , which celebrated the exposition and the centennial. At the same time, the exposition was designed to show
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#17327727475654992-799: The exposition, Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the Pennsylvania Museum of Art and included the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art. In 1928 the museum moved to Fairmount at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and in 1938 was renamed the Philadelphia Museum of Art . Memorial Hall continued to house the school, and afterward was taken over by the Fairmount Park Commission in 1958. The museum school
5088-493: The exposition, and 37 countries participated in it. The Great Central Fair on Logan Square in Philadelphia , in 1864, also known as the Great Sanitary Fair, was one of the many United States Sanitary Commission 's Sanitary Fairs held during the American Civil War . The fairs provided a creative and communal means for ordinary citizens to promote the welfare of Union Army soldiers and dedicate themselves to
5184-477: The exposition, which was dedicated on July 4, 1873, by Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson . The Commission decided to classify the exhibits into seven departments: agriculture, art, education and science, horticulture, machinery, manufactures, and mining and metallurgy. Newspaper publisher John W. Forney agreed to head and pay for a Philadelphia commission sent to Europe to invite nations to exhibit at
5280-437: The exposition. Despite fears of a European boycott and high American tariffs making foreign goods not worthwhile, no European country declined the invitation. To accommodate out-of-town visitors, temporary hotels were constructed near the exposition's grounds. A Centennial Lodging-House Agency made a list of rooms in hotels, boarding houses , and private homes and then sold tickets for the available rooms in cities promoting
5376-418: The exposition. In 1869, Schwarzmann began working for the Fairmount Park Commission, which administered the site of the 1876 Centennial Exposition. It is one of the great urban parks of the United States; its importance in landscape history was surpassed only by Central Park . Schwarzmann was the chief architect for the Centennial Exposition, designing Memorial Hall, Horticultural Hall, other small buildings, and
5472-429: The fairgrounds, and exorbitant rates were charged by carriage drivers. Drawing lessons from this failure, the Philadelphia exposition was ready for its visitors, with direct railroad connections to service passenger trains every 30 minutes, trolley lines, street cars, carriage routes, and even docking facilities on the river. More than 200 buildings were constructed within the exposition's grounds, which were surrounded by
5568-667: The firm designed the headquarters for the Baldwin Locomotive Works (pre-1885, demolished). In Beach Haven, New Jersey , it designed the Baldwin Hotel (1883, burned 1960), Holy Innocents Episcopal Church (1881–82), and a number of summer homes for company executives. In 1881, the PRR hired the firm to design its main passenger terminal at Broad and Filbert streets in Center City Philadelphia , directly west of Philadelphia City Hall . This
5664-519: The firm in 1886 and was promoted to partner in 1899. All three Wilson brothers attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Joseph also studied metallurgy at the University of Pennsylvania . Joseph worked in the construction department of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) from 1860 to 1876, designing bridges and railroad structures, including several commuter stations on the Main Line . For
5760-454: The funds for the pavilion. Much of the pavilion was devoted to human ecology and home economics . On exhibit were over 80 patented inventions, including a reliance stove, a hand attachment for sewing machines, a dishwasher, a fountain griddle-greaser, a heating iron with removable handle , a frame for stretching and drying lace curtains, and a stocking and glove darner. The Centennial women not only showed domestic production but also employed
5856-561: The landscaping around them. His work for the Centennial Exposition was informed by the Vienna International Exposition in 1873 , which Schwarzmann visited to study the buildings and the grounds layout. The Vienna International Exposition in 1873 was marred by disastrous logistic planning and was taken as a cautionary example. At the Vienna Exposition, there was no convenient way for visitors to reach
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#17327727475655952-414: The longest 125 ft (38 m) in length. The construction included red and black brick-laid design with stained glass or painted glass decorations. The Interior walls were whitewashed, and woodwork was decorated with shades of green, crimson, blue, and gold. The flooring of the building was made of wooden planks that rested directly on the ground without any air space underneath them. The orientation of
6048-415: The main building of Drexel University (1888–91), and the train shed of Reading Terminal (1891–93), all located in Philadelphia. The firm's founders were Joseph Miller Wilson (1838–1902), architect and civil engineer, John Allston Wilson (1837–96), a civil engineer, and Frederick Godfrey Thorn (c. 1837–1911), architect and civil engineer. Youngest brother Henry W. Wilson (1844–1910), civil engineer, joined
6144-509: The mid-19th century. A large bequest from Dr. James Rush resulted in a new building at Broad and Christian streets in South Philadelphia. The Ridgway Library, as it was called, was controversial because it was both physically and socially removed from the homes and businesses of its members. A new, more centrally located, library designed by Frank Furness opened its doors in 1880 at Juniper and Locust Street. An unrelated endeavor,
6240-513: The most significant collections of historically valuable manuscripts and printed material in the United States. The current collection size is approximately 500,000 books and 70,000 other items, including 2,150 items that once belonged to Franklin, major collections of 17th-century and Revolution -era pamphlets and ephemera , maps, and whole libraries assembled in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection also includes first editions of Moby-Dick and Leaves of Grass . The Library Company
6336-444: The most unusual of which were front hair pieces and false teeth. Guards were required to live onsite and were housed at six police stations strategically located throughout the Exposition. A magistrate's office and courtroom were located at the only two-story police station located on the grounds and was used to conduct prisoner hearings. Officers slept in cramped quarters, which fostered health issues. Eight guards died while working
6432-474: The new building. The new quarters were opened on New Year's Day, 1791. For the new library Samuel Jennings, an expatriate Philadelphian living in London, painted a large picture, " Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences ." In 1792, the Loganian Library, which had been housed across the square, was transferred to the Library Company, complementing its collection with the 2600 books (chiefly in Latin and Greek) that had been collected by James Logan. This collection
6528-460: The occasion written by Dudley Buck and Sidney Lanier was performed. The opening ceremony concluded in Machinery Hall, with Grant and Pedro II turning on the Corliss Steam Engine which powered most of the other machines at the exposition. The official number of first day attendees was 186,272 people, with 110,000 entering with free passes. In the days following the opening ceremony, attendance dropped dramatically, with only 12,720 people visiting
6624-454: The pavilion's exhibits, indicating the growth of a sector of elite women during the Porfirio Díaz regime of the late nineteenth century, with many individual women sending examples of woven textiles and embroidery. Eleven nations had their own exhibition buildings, and others contributed small structures, including the Swedish School house referenced below, now in Central Park , New York City. The British buildings were extensive and exhibited
6720-410: The project would not be able to find funding, other nations might not attend, and domestic exhibits might compare poorly to foreign ones. The Franklin Institute became an early supporter of the exposition and asked the Philadelphia City Council for use of Fairmount Park . With reference to the numerous events of national importance that were held in the past and related to the city of Philadelphia,
6816-455: The return of high temperatures at the end of the month. Library Company of Philadelphia 39°56′52″N 75°09′47″W / 39.94779°N 75.16306°W / 39.94779; -75.16306 The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based on Locust Street in Center City Philadelphia . Founded as a library in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin , the Library Company of Philadelphia has accumulated one of
6912-628: The second floor of the new Carpenters' Company hall in 1773. "The Books (inclosed within Wire Lattices) are kept in one large Room," Franklin was informed in London, "and in another handsome Apartment the [scientific] Apparatus is deposited and the Directors meet." On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress met on the first floor of Carpenters' Hall , and the Library Company extended members' privileges to all
7008-559: The south entrance of the building served as a primary entrance to the building for streetcars. The north side related the building to the Art Gallery and the west side served as a passageway to the Machinery and Agricultural Halls. In the Main Exhibition Building, columns were placed at a uniform distance of 24 ft (7.3 m). The entire structure consisted of 672 columns, the shortest column 23 ft (7.0 m) in length and
7104-411: The subscription. Admitting new members and selecting new books were the directors' ordinary duties. In the back of the library's 1741 catalog, Franklin mentioned that the library was accessible to people who were not members. Those who were not members were allowed to borrow books. However, they had to leave enough money to cover the cost of the book. Apparently, their money was given back upon returning
7200-550: The survival of the nation, and the Great Central Fair bolstered Philadelphia's role as a vital center in the Union war effort. It anticipated the combination of public, private, and commercial investments that were necessary to mount the Centennial Exposition. Both had a similar neo-Gothic appearance, including the waving flags, a huge central hall, the "curiosities" and relics, handmade and industrial exhibits, and also
7296-523: The time (1892), the largest single-span train shed in the world. In 1885, the Wilsons designed a high-ceilinged, 2-story banking house for Drexel & Company, on the southeast corner of 5th & Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. Four years later, Drexel wished to expand, but Independence National Bank next door refused to sell. In response, Joseph Wilson designed the Drexel Building, a 10-story, H-shaped addition that surrounded Independence National Bank on
7392-410: The titles were literature, mostly in the form of poetry and plays, for the prose novel was still in its infancy: as late as 1783, in the first orders from London after the war years, the directors thought "we should not think it expedient to add to our present stock, anything in the novel way." Another fifth of the titles were devoted to works of science. Theology and sermons , however, accounted for only
7488-481: The world that had relied exclusively on having one or a few large buildings. The Centennial Commission sponsored a design competition for the principal buildings, conducted in two rounds; winners of the first round had to have details such as construction cost and time prepared for the runoff on September 20, 1873. After the ten design winners were chosen, it was determined that none of them allowed enough time for construction and limited finances. The architecture of
7584-594: The world the United States' industrial and innovative prowess. The exposition was originally scheduled to open in April, marking the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord , but construction delays caused the date to be pushed back to May 10. Bells rang all over Philadelphia to signal the exposition's opening. The opening ceremony was attended by President Ulysses Grant and his wife as well as Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and his wife . A cantata commissioned for
7680-412: Was John Welsh , brother of philanthropist William Welsh, who had raised funds for the Great Sanitary Fair in 1864. The board was authorized to sell up to $ 10 million in stock via $ 10 shares. The board sold $ 1,784,320 ($ 45,381,205 in 2023 ) worth of shares by February 22, 1873. Philadelphia contributed $ 1.5 million and Pennsylvania gave $ 1 million. On February 11, 1876, Congress appropriated $ 1.5 million in
7776-420: Was 45 ft (14 m) tall, weighed 650 tons, and had 1 mi (1.6 km) of overhead line belts connecting to the machinery in the building. It symbolized the technology that was transforming the United States into an industrial powerhouse. Amenities available to the visitors within the hall were rolling chairs, telegraph offices, and dinner for fifty cents. Machinery Hall had 8,000 operating machines and
7872-448: Was a disappointing turnout: all but John Sober and the hatter Joseph Stretch (son of Peter Stretch ), who later became a Pennsylvania assemblyman, were officers. The library now had eleven paid-up members. Joseph Stretch and his brothers provided half of the original capital to build Pennsylvania Hospital , another of Benjamin Franklin's projects. Over time, fifty subscribers invested 40 shillings each and promised to pay ten shillings
7968-512: Was an offshoot of the Junto , a discussion group in colonial Philadelphia , that gravitated around Benjamin Franklin . On July 1, 1731, Franklin and a number of his fellow members among the Junto drew up articles of agreement to found a library, for they had discovered that their far-ranging conversations on intellectual and political themes floundered at times on a point of fact that might be found in
8064-402: Was constructed using prefabricated parts, with a wood and iron frame resting on a substructure of 672 stone piers. Wrought iron roof trusses were supported by the columns of the superstructure. The building took eighteen months to complete and cost $ 1,580,000. The building was surrounded by portals on all four sides. The east entrance of the building was used as an access way for carriages, and
8160-601: Was demolished in 1959, and a replica of Library Hall was built on its original site by the American Philosophical Society . Following the deaths of the two older brothers, the firm continued as Wilson, Harris & Richards, and later as Harris & Richards. Philadelphia Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition , officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of
8256-504: Was designed to look like various barn structures pieced together. The building's exhibits included products and machines used in agriculture and other related businesses. Situated high atop a hill presiding over Fountain Avenue, Horticultural Hall epitomized floral achievement, which attracted professional and amateur gardeners. Unlike the other main buildings, it was meant to be permanent. Horticultural Hall had an iron and glass frame on
8352-405: Was filled with a wide assortment of hand tools, machine tools, material handling equipment, and the latest fastener technology. Some of the sandstone that was used to build the hall was from Curwensville, Pennsylvania . The Art Gallery building (now known as Memorial Hall ) is the only large exhibit building still standing on the exposition site. Constructed of brick, glass, iron, and granite in
8448-406: Was found to replace him, Benjamin Franklin took over his duties. Franklin's stint as librarian ended in 1734, when he was replaced by William Parsons, the librarian for the next 12 years. Robert Greenway was the fourth librarian, whose tenure lasted until 1763. The articles of association specified that each member after the first fifty must be approved by the directors, sign the articles, and pay
8544-752: Was issued for the Company by the Penn proprietors, March 24, 1742, that included a plot of land, issued in their name by Governor George Thomas . Collinson, who had faithfully executed the Company's requests for books over the years, sent windfalls in 1755 and in 1758 in the form of boxes of his own copies of a score of 17th-century accounts of the newly established British colonies in America, among them such classics as Strachey 's Lawes , Mourt's Relation and John Smith 's General Historie of Virginia . The Library Company's microscope and telescope were frequently borrowed and from time to time, needed repairs. There
8640-523: Was one of the first steel-framed buildings in the United States to use masonry not as a structure, but as a curtain wall (as skyscrapers do). The station was widely admired; 15% of the architects in an 1885 poll voted it one of "The Best Ten Buildings in the United States." Eleven years later, the Wilson Brothers' Gothic Revival station was incorporated into Frank Furness 's far larger Broad Street Station . The Wilsons designed its new train shed, at
8736-417: Was opened that April on the southeast corner of Market Street and 32nd Street. A branch office operated during the exposition on the fairgrounds. The Centennial Commission ran out of funds for printing and other expenses. Philadelphia city officials appropriated $ 50,000 to make up for the shortfall. Herman J. Schwarzmann , an engineer for the Fairmount Park Commission, was appointed the main designer of
8832-477: Was soon imitated in other cities along the Atlantic coast , from Salem to Charleston . The Library soon became a repository of other curiosities: antique coins, including a gift of Roman coins from a Tory Member of Parliament , fossils , natural history specimens, minerals. When John Penn, making up for his slow start, sent an air-pump to the learned society in 1739, the directors, to house it commissioned
8928-740: Was supplemented by the medical library of James Logan's younger brother, a physician in Bristol, England, the best medical library in North America. Thornton's new building immediately required a new wing. The collections went from strength to strength in the 19th century. In mid-century it was considered one of the "five great libraries" in the United States, along with the Harvard University Library , Yale University Library , Library of Congress , and Boston Athenæum . The Library Company's collections were physically split in
9024-767: Was the beginning of the Good Roads Movement . . The main British building, also known as St. George's Hall or the English Commission Building, survived at its original site as Fairmount Park offices until it was demolished in 1961. 26 of the 37 U.S. states constructed buildings along States Drive in the exhibition grounds. Only three such state houses are still extant: the Ohio House at its original location in Fairmount Park,
9120-473: Was the longest nave ever introduced into an exhibition building up to that time. On both sides of the nave were avenues 100 ft (30 m) in width and 1,832 ft (558 m) in length. Aisles 48 ft (15 m) wide were located between the nave and the side avenues, and smaller aisles 24 ft (7.3 m) in width were on the outer sides of the building. The exterior of the building featured four towers, each 75 ft (23 m) high, at each of
9216-503: Was the show case for the state of the art industrial technology that was being produced at the time. The United States of America alone took up two-thirds of the exhibit space in the building. One of the major attractions on display in the building was the Corliss Centennial Steam Engine that ran power to all the machinery in the building as well as other parts of the world's fair. The 1,400 horsepower engine
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